Horticulture

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Wall Restoration #6

The rain has continued to fall in the Ohio Valley, we have accumulated over 70” of precipitation this year and the long-term forecast is trending on the wet side. These wet soil conditions have created havoc with our autumn project list. We hope to continue to renovate more tees this fall/winter and restore the sloughing wall on #6

The restoration of the wall on #6 has started and stopped on a couple occasions due to the weather. In fact with some much needed help from Mother Nature we hope to continue this week with the removal of a 48 foot section that is damaged. There are a couple issues with this area of the wall that caused it to fail. The drain field behind this area was poor, holding a tremendous amount of water behind the wall, allowing for the freeze and thaw cycle to push the wall forward. Also, there was an undercutting of the footer at the base from the natural flow of the water that aided in shifting the wall forward.

Currently, we have created a small dam ahead of the damaged area to divert water through a 12 inch pipe and roughly 3 feet of soil has been excavated behind the wall. The next steps in the process include removing the damaged section of the wall and lowering the water level further in the creek bottom. Once the area for the new footer is excavated and the soil is stabilized, a new footer will be poured and the Stone Mason will construct the new section of the wall. In order to match the new stone with the old, the entire wall will be pressured washed in the spring and we will try to salvage some of the old stone to be placed throughout.

There are several challenges with this project and a careful plan has been laid out with contingences in place. Please check back here for periodic updates on the progress.